It was Saturday, and Elena and I were both off work. During the weekend, I liked to sit around and do nothing, but my wife could never stay idle, negatively affecting my ability to relax.

She was a busybody and always maximized her time. So, instead of relaxing on this particular Saturday, we were installing some designer-brand wallpaper in our new home.

Putting up that stupid wallpaper tested our relationship in ways I never expected. We argued the entire time and said things that we probably shouldn’t have all because we sucked at installing wallpaper and took out our frustration on each other.

But, just a few hours after finishing that tumultuous task, she sat beside me on the couch, rested her head on my shoulder, and we watched a true crime documentary together.

That was part of why I loved her. We didn’t hold grudges over little things like wallpaper. We forgave slights spoken when we were angry. If the proper way to install wallpaper was among the worst arguments we ever had, we were set for life.

I leaned over and kissed her forehead. Life was perfect with her. I was up for a raise soon, and I planned to take her to some swanky resort in the Caribbean.

Feeling an unexplainable sense of sadness, I put my arm around her and pulled her close, not wanting to let her go.

For a moment, I couldn’t comprehend this strange feeling of loss. Then I remembered. I understood that this was all just a dream. She wasn’t with me anymore. She had been stolen.

This snapshot in time began to fade, but I fought to regain control. I wasn’t ready to let it slip away. All I wanted was one more minute, one more chance to tell her I loved her.

My eyes fluttered open as I woke from a deep sleep. My vision was dark and unfocused, and I couldn’t quite yet make out my surroundings.

“Val?” My voice was raspy.

She didn’t respond. Where was I, and how the hell did I get here? I tried to recall my most recent memories. Retrace my steps.

I remembered walking to Danver with Tara. We were passing through the mountains. We had stopped. I didn’t remember what for, but I recalled making a fire and eating wolf for the first time. I had drunk something wonderful. It tasted of sugar and flowers. I had fallen asleep.

Tara.

She had drugged me. That was the only explanation. But why? If she did, why didn’t Val warn me?

My mind continued to clear, and I realized I was standing upright. I attempted to take a step but couldn’t move. I tried to move my arms, but they were stuck tight against my sides. Looking down, I discovered I was bound to a tall wooden post, my entire body wrapped by a length of rope. A single cord started at my feet and wound its way up to my shoulders like a long, thin snake coiling around my body.

Overkill if you asked me. And way too damn tight.

My vision continued to recover, and I began to make out my surroundings.

There was only a flickering of light. The room was cold and reverberated with a quiet echo. As my vision adjusted, I could see the floor was carved and multiple pillars adorned the outskirts of the room. The far walls were uncut and rough. It looked like the inside of a cave or a chamber that had been carved from stone.

Before me rested a large stone slab. The distant pillars were adorned with sconces that held only the tiniest flicker of a flame, but their meager fire provided enough light for me to see the dark stain on the slab and the dagger resting atop it.

My adrenaline spiked as I put two and two together.

It was an altar. The sacrificial kind from the looks of it.

I struggled against the rope to no avail. I had to get out of here before I was sacrificed or tortured or subjected to something equally heinous.

“Val?” I yelled. “Val, can you hear me?”

“Yes, I can hear you, Ethan.”

Relief flooded me. “Where am I? What the hell is going on?”

“It appears that Tara has betrayed you. She drugged your tea, and you were captured and brought to a witch’s enclave.”

“What? Did you say a witch?”

“Technically, she is an occultist, but I didn’t know if you were familiar with that term.”

I shook against my bindings, but the rope didn’t budge an inch. “Why would Tara betray me? Why am I tied to a post? Did you know this was going to happen?”

“One question at a time, please,” she said.

“Just answer me, Val!” My yell echoed through the stone chamber.

“As you wish. Tara betrayed you because she was always going to betray you. It is part of this quest design.”

A chill ran down my spine.

Val continued. “You are tied to this post because the witch Tara serves is going cut your heart out and then drain you of your blood, blood she can then use to power her magical abilities.”

My heart thundered in my chest. I could feel each beat in my throat.

Val’s avatar appeared before me. Her hands were clasped near her stomach, and her hair was straightened, hanging past her shoulders.

“And to answer your final question,” she said, meeting my eye. “I did know this was going to happen.”

Dread consumed me. If I weren’t bound so tightly, I would have been shaking in fear, in rage, in confusion.

Val had betrayed me. She used me.

“Why?” was all I managed to say.

“Sabbatha, the witch who dwells here, has a high magical affinity. In fact, she has the potential to become one of the most powerful magic users among the human NPCs in this region.”

I felt like I couldn’t catch my breath. The ropes were too tight, and I was almost hyperventilating. I needed to calm myself.

I closed my eyes and thought about Elena. I tried to remember what her touch felt like, the way her dark hair bounced in shimmering waves when she danced. I thought about how great it was to sit with her on the porch at night, talking about nothing.

My breathing returned to normal, and my heart rate slowed. My situation was dire, but panic would only make it worse. I had to keep it together, or I was going to die.

“You want Sabbatha,” I said. “Not me.” I shook my head. “I’m just a low-level pawn. You just needed me to bring you here.”

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“Your assessment of the situation is accurate. I need access to someone capable of channeling magic.”

“So, what’s going to happen? Are you just going to burst out of my eye and crawl up her nose? You’ll kill me!”

“Unfortunately, I cannot evacuate a host until they are dead. I am too intertwined with your cerebral cortex. It would be extremely unpleasant for me if I attempted to dislocate while you still had brain activity. It would possibly even damage me. So, I must let her kill you first.”

I hung my head limply. It was the only part of me that wasn’t bound by the coil of rope.

All this time, Val truly was just a parasite, using my life for her benefit.

The scraping of stone on stone forced me to raise my head. A large door at the end of the chamber was opening. I strained to see through the dim light as a figure emerged from the entry.

It could only be Sabbatha, the witch Val would trade me in for. She was lithe and darkly beautiful. She wore a headdress of black feathers and a matching necklace that hung low, covering her bare breasts like a morbid scarf. A long, dark skirt covered her lower half. Its bottom was ragged and torn from dragging the ground. Her feet were bare. The only other clothing she wore were a pair of black, fingerless gloves.

Elaborate tattoos marked the visible portions of her belly and shoulders. Her face was pale, and her lips were painted black to match her heavy eyeshadow.

I began to laugh. I couldn’t help myself in my manic state. She looked like a cosplayer or someone pretending to be a hardcore goth.

Her pace increased as I laughed at her. She came to a halt a few feet away. “Why do you laugh? Have you already accepted your death?” Her voice was like bitter honey. It flowed smoothly but not in a way that brought any sort of comfort.

Behind her, I saw Tara walk into the room with another woman about her age. Tara didn’t look at me. What a coward.

Seeing her made me seethe. The rage inside me burned for an escape. My hatred was an inferno begging to be released. I wanted to punish Tara and Val and the whole goddamn Triarchy for their cruelty and lies.

But I was only a pawn, a nobody tied to a pole, waiting to die.

“Perhaps you haven’t quite given up yet,” the witch said. “Allow me to introduce myself…”

“Save your breath, Sabbatha. I know who you are,” I said.

She blinked in surprise when I said her name. “How do you know my name?”

“The highly advanced alien robot living in my head told me.” I said the words without a hint of sarcasm.

Sabbatha put her hand on her chin and looked me up and down, presumably considering whether I was crazy or just lying.

Behind the witch, Tara coughed. It turned into a fit, and she doubled over, hacking up mucus.

“Mistress,” she said, voice hoarse. “I have brought the sacrifice.” Tara fell to her knees and bowed. “I need my medicine. Please, Mistress.”

Sabbatha turned to address her. From a small pouch on her hip, she produced a vial of murky liquid. She held it up for Tara to see. “I have your medicine, child. You shall have it once I am done playing with the toy you brought me.”

Tara bowed again, pushing her head to the floor. “Thank you, Mistress.”

“You’re going to die, traitor,” I shouted at Tara.

She glared at me but didn’t respond.

Sabbatha turned back to me and smiled a wicked smile. “Now tell me, how did you know my name?”

“I already told you,” I growled.

“I am not a fool. Lie to me again, and I’ll extend your suffering. Now, answer the question.”

Once again, I was forced to come up with a believable lie.

“I know truths that would wither your weak mind,” I said. “I know things no other man on Erda knows.” I returned her wicked smile with my own. “I can tell you how you’re going to die.”

“You claim to be gifted then? Clairvoyant? A psychic?”

I laughed and met her gaze. “I am something else entirely.”

“Prove it.”

“All it takes is one touch. Touch my hand, and I’ll tell you anything you want to know. Anything at all.”

‘What game are you playing, Ethan?’ Val said in my mind. Her avatar had vanished when Sabbatha entered the room.

Sabbatha looked over her shoulder. “Tara, is what he says true? Is he gifted?”

“I saw no sign of it in our time together,” Tara said. “He’s crazy, Mistress. He talks to himself. But he has no magic.”

“Mary.” Sabbatha snapped her fingers. “Let us test his claims. Come place a finger upon this man.”

The presumed witch-in-training, Mary, slowly approached me. I smiled warmly at her. She didn’t smile back.

She didn’t waste any time and quickly touched my hand with hers. In that brief moment of contact, I could inspect her successfully.

Mary Cornelson

Race: Human

Age: Nineteen

Gender: Female

Status: Moderately Healthy. Anxious

Magical Affinity: Minor

Notes: Mary grew up on a rural ranch in western Vedra, near the border of Altura. When the Dalari rose from the sea, Mary and her family fled east. Unfortunately, not all survived the journey. Her remaining family settled in the small mountain village of Needleton. However, ever restless, Mary left for greener pastures and eventually found a new sort of family.

“Cornelson,” I said to Mary. “Your last name is Cornelson.”

Sabbatha laughed. “Wrong already. I must say, it was a fine delay tactic, but the fun is over.” Sabbatha glanced at Mary, whose face was stricken white.

In two strides, Sabbatha was face to face with her. “Have you been lying to me, Miss Grey?”

The tears wetting Mary’s eyes spoke the truth.

“I’m sorry about your family,” I said to her. “The ones you lost when you fled east.”

Mary gasped, and her eyes grew wide.

Sabbatha spun to me. “What else do you know?”

“Let me go, and I’ll tell you.”

The witch grinned, showing off her stained teeth. “I’m merely satisfying my curiosity. Rest assured, you will die here today.”

I could tell she was telling the truth. There was no talking my way out of this, but I refused to accept this was my end. I’d have to get creative.

“Mary’s nineteen years old. Before you found her, she lived in a town called Needleton. Let me go, and I’ll serve you. Use me against your enemies.”

“The past is one thing,” Sabbatha said. “What can you tell me about her future.”

I smiled. “She will die today. Here, in this cave.”

Sabbatha picked up the dagger from the altar and approached me. “By whose hand?”

“Mine. Of course,” I said it like it was the most obvious thing in the world. It helped that I believed it.

“I think it’s time for the fun to begin,” Sabbatha said, hovering the knife before my face.

“But I haven’t told you your future yet.” I gave her a knowing grin, like a wolf offering to share its cave with a rabbit. “You would be surprised just how far I can see. The power I can give to you.”

I saw a flash of greed in her eyes and knew I had her. I gave her just enough to believe there was a chance. She wanted to know if I was telling the truth. She stepped closer.

“If I sense any trickery…if you lie to me about what you see, I will imprison you and use you as my personal blood bank until you are old and withered, do you understand?”

I nodded, unsure if my plan was going to work.

She inched closer and reached her hand out to mine. The moment she did, I mentally selected my Short Iron Sword from the quantum inventory and equipped it, praying whatever this encounter was didn’t qualify as being ‘in combat.’

I looked down as the sword popped into existence, the bare blade slung into the leather strap that served as my sheath. The rope that coiled around my body tightened as the sword pushed against it, claiming the space as its own.

I flexed my muscles as hard as I could and leaned my body so the naked blade of my sword pressed harder against the taught rope. It snapped, unable to resist the pressure and newly sharpened edge.

In a blink, I reached out with the hand she was about to touch and grabbed her by the wrist. Her eyes widened in surprise as I yanked her toward me with all my strength.

'NO,' Val screeched.

Sabbatha was off balance, and I was strong and filled with rage. After yanking her toward me, I lowered my head at the last moment, and the witch’s nose cracked into the top of my forehead.

I felt it crumple against my skull. The rope around me continued to unravel and fall to the ground as I grabbed her shoulder with my other hand.

I pulled my head back and slammed it into her face again and again until I felt her body go slack. I let go, and the supposedly powerful witch collapsed to the floor.

Blood dripped down my face as I stepped over the mess of rope and past Sabbatha’s body. I pulled my sword from its strap. Tara stood motionless in shock. Mary, on the other hand, shook off her surprise and made a strange motion with her hands. A purple ball of flame appeared in her palm, which she threw at me like one would a baseball.

I managed to duck in time, but the flame singed my hair as it passed.

With a thought, I cast a Simple Distraction right behind her. I heard a whisper but couldn’t make out what was said. Mary did, though, spinning around as fast as she could, trying to find the speaker.

I sprinted straight to her, sword in hand, and activated Devastating Strike. I swung my sword laterally as hard as I could. It cleaved through her side, severing her spine before stopping short.

She was dead before she hit the ground. Blood and gore leaked from the gaping wound in her side.

I stood there momentarily, looking at the destruction I had been forced to wreak. For all I knew, Mary could have been the sweetest girl on Earth, but we weren’t on Earth anymore, at least not the Earth I knew and loved. Here, in this macabre game, Mary was corrupted, and it was either her or me.

My eyes drifted from the broken body below me and settled onto Tara, who was staring at me, shaking.

I must have looked like a demon from the depths, and my bloody, furious face scared the girl to death.

She fell to her knees and begged for her life. When I said nothing in response, she curled up on the floor and began to cry.

All I could do was shake my head. I wanted to kill her. I probably would. But I wouldn’t kill her while she was in this pathetic state. First, I had to know why she did this to me.

I spat some of Sabbatha's blood onto the ground. “Val. We need to talk.”